Through the first weekend, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is producing large TV numbers, some of the biggest ever. CBS and Turner were beaming about the ratings in a release.

Game coverage on CBS won Saturday night's Nielsens and the strong interest continued Sunday night, giving the tournament its best numbers — 6.7 rating/14 share — since the tournament expanded to its current television format in 1991.

The numbers are up 6 percent over last year.

And what bodes well for CBS and TBS, who have now shed truTV and TNT and have most of the coverage the rest of the way, is the number of marquee names left in the mix.

While the consensus is there's only one true great team in the field this year, Kentucky, there are certainly many recognizable brand names.

The first two full rounds gave everybody exactly what the TV people wanted — several close games, a few buzzer-beaters, a few upsets and lots of schools moving forward that people recognize.

Sure, it's always nice when a Lehigh, VCU, Mercer or Robert Morris can pull a surprise, but if given truth serum, the casual fan will admit he really wants to see the teams he knows where to find on a map without looking them up on the Internet.

Then on Friday, you've got UCLA, Duke, Michigan State and Louisville on the floor. You may not know all of the players, and you may not even know all of the TV commentators, but you know many of these coaches — Calipari, Krzyzewski, Pitino, Izzo, Williams — and you certainly know the history of some of these programs.

Unlike the NFL, which would draw huge numbers for a Super Bowl featuring the Titans and Panthers, the NCAA needs recognizable school names and recognizable faces to attract fans who may not give a hoot from November through February but are looking for some compelling drama now.

Look for the boffo numbers to continue and look for more records to be shattered should the polarizing Kentucky program continue its quest for 40-0.

Crying piccolo player

Every year, the NCAA tournament produces some everlasting images that sum up the emotion involved with these do-or-die games. Many of them are played in that "One Shining Moment" segment that always closes the tournament after the national championship game.

Perhaps the most poignant image so far was that of Villanova pep band member Roxanne Chalifoux, who was caught on camera with tears streaming down her face as the end of the Wildcats' season became evident Saturday night with their loss to N.C. State.

As it turns out, Chalifoux's tears weren't all about the end of the road for the Big East champs. As she told a Philadelphia TV reporter after she returned to campus, it was the fact she was playing with the band for the last time before graduating that really hit home.

No matter the reason, her display of raw emotion got national attention and it even caught the eye of Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC's "Tonight Show." He invited her on Monday's show and had her join his house band — Philadelphia's very own Roots.

Fallon even did more than that. He gave her a gift basket that included two tickets to see Taylor Swift, one of Chalifoux's favorite artists, in concert.

As someone on the CBS Sports website suggested, you can expect a whole lot of cryin' going on among pep band members for the rest of the tournament.

More Big East crying

Fox Sports 1 and the new-look Big East Conference seemed like a marriage made in heaven simply because both needed each other. There were smiles all around when Fox and the Big East signed a 12-year, $500 million contract in 2013.

However, this marriage already seems on the rocks.

AwfulAnnouncing.com reported that the numbers for what was once the most-watched league in college basketball dropped this winter after not exactly terrific numbers in 2014 when Fox Sports 1 was brand-new.

While CBS has drawn more than 1 million viewers for its games, and ESPN hits the 2.5 million and 3 million mark with regularity, the average for Big East games on Fox in March was 153,000.

It's what was mentioned above when talking about tournament ratings.

While an unheralded unknown will capture your attention once in a while, people want brand names.

If you want a TV series that captures the essence of the Philly sports fan, "The Goldbergs" Wednesday nights on ABC is for you.

The sitcom is set in the 1980s and is the autobiographical story of Adam Goldberg, who grew up in the Philly suburb of Jenkintown. His parents, who include Jeff Garlin from HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," are wacky. So is Goldberg's older brother and sister on the show. Ditto for his grandfather, played by George Segal.

But what makes the show so appealing is the Philadelphia references (Lee's Hoagies and Wawa have been mentioned), particularly to the city's sports teams.

In one episode, Garlin's character and Goldberg's brother feud over the fact that the elder Goldberg always wants to leave Flyers games early to beat the traffic outside the Spectrum.

Another episode had the father wanting to break up his son's relationship with a girl because her father was a devout Cowboys fan.

Then there's Wednesday night's episode (8:30 p.m.), which features a flashback to Veterans Stadium and includes the Phillie Phanatic.

In an interview with MLB.com, Goldberg said he "very cavalierly" wrote a joke about his brother Barry Goldberg (portrayed by Troy Gentile) being pelted by batteries at a game after he caught a ball.

"And here come the batteries," the announcer said.

However, MLB objected to the scene and the battery-throwing reference.